Green Computing Literature Review Research Paper

Green Computing Literature Review - Research Paper Example Since strategy, IT, and business operations are continuously being affected by the green issues, lack of G-readiness can deprive a firm of the opportunities to become increasingly competitive and successful (Molla and Cooper, 2009, p. 20). The aim of this paper is to carry out empirical investigation of the influence of Green IT on the return of investment of businesses. Green IT has been identified as the most important strategic technology of the year 2008 (Thibodeau, 2007). Although plenty of research has been done on the societal role of business, not much has been said about the influence of corporate environmentalism or Green IT policies on the competitiveness of firms and return of investment (Banerjee, 2002, p. 179). The main question that is being researched in the paper is â€Å"To what extent do the green IT policies affect the return of investment of businesses?† The idea of green computing started around 1992 with the launch of Energy Star by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) (Ruth, 2009, p. 80). There are mixed opinions about the adoption of Green IT in businesses in the contemporary age. While some like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (2007) foresee huge threats associated with this trend, there are many others e.g. Will (2009) that deny or downplay the estimated or assumed risks. Among the professionals and economists who acknowledge the risks, some lay down the option of either accepting lower living standards so that the climate change can be slowed down or reversed or else, pay the price of making modifications and adjustments according to its effects. Others like President Barack Obama are more optimistic and see the adoption of Green IT as a way to have an economy that is not only more energy efficient but also cleaner as he said, â€Å"We will put Americans to work in new jobs that pay well and can’t be outsourced—jobs building solar panels and wind turbines; constructing fuel-efficient cars a nd buildings; and developing the new energy technologies that will lead to even more jobs, more savings, and a cleaner, safer planet in the bargain† (Obama, 2009 cited in Dedrick, 2010, p. 175). The community of information systems has started to seriously consider the importance of the role of IT in the creation as well as reduction of global warming. Dick and Burns (2011) carried out an exploratory study to determine the extent to which small businesses in North Georgia were utilizing the Green IT and also to identify the factors that are motivating or discouraging them to use Green IT, and found that although small businesses know the opportunities and possibilities associated with the Green IT practices, there is huge variation in the take-up. To date, most of the activity and discussion has been focused on the minimization of the direct impacts of IT on the environment by increasing the energy efficiency of the personal computing equipment and data centers. Organizations are feeling a strong incentive to adopt them because of the tendency of these efforts to cause a direct reduction of the costs associated with IT. A lot of research work is being done to introduce new and efficient ways of integration of Green IT in the work setup. Desai and Bhatia (2011) have introduced a Green IT Maturity Model (GITM) that can be used for the assessment as well as implementation of the services